Surprise, We Made an Album!

We are happy to finally announce a secret project that has been in the works for quite some time.

The front cover.

Exposed: The Series wouldn’t feel right without the addition of a soundtrack to correlate and expand the world even further. So we would like to introduce to all of you… BK2BLK. This is a compilation album featuring some up-and-coming artists as well as some of our very own including Raxiel El Leon who plays Von, and Q From Tha Block who plays Kleem. 

Just a little backstory, this project has been discussed since Vision’s film 569 film but with anything great it takes time. With Exposed it was important to encapsulate all the previous films in the series and prepare the viewers for what is to come. We used our music campaign and character-curated playlists as a sample of what the album would sound like which inspired the addition of IV Sound, a new branch of IV Vision where Jewel, Sarah McVicker, and Syd Wade executive produced Vol. 1 of the album.

When curating the album we hand-selected musicians who fit the mold of what the series represented while having a variety of sounds. The flow of the album was another vital aspect as we wanted our listeners to groove along with us and follow along with the drama of the album as it relates to Exposed. We start off mellow then burst into a crescendo, bring the high back down, and round out the mellow R&B sound, creating a full-circle effect.

We reached out to a close friend and fellow artist, Kaylan Mary, to bless the album with a single that would transcend and elevate BK2BLK and Exposed to new heights. There’s no other way to put it So Good is just that good. Her single dropped last Friday, so check it out on Apple and Spotify. Sarah executive produced along with Jewel who also directed the music video for the song. We were inspired by the Black Renaissance and the idea of a muse as a way to connect the song to the series. The visual is currently in post and will drop soon.

Taylor Gray is a close friend who Jewel has known for years and his pop-sultry sound from a queer perspective was a great addition. OC Dinero begins to heighten the album with a groovy and upbeat hip-hop track but still keeps the mellow undertones. Along with R&B artist CristalC, we put a BK2BLK spin and remix on it while keeping the original vibe of the song intact. 

Tripppy, a fellow SCAD alum, precedes the interlude and slows down the latter half of the album. A special element that brings the album full circle, aside from the interlude and outerlude, is the start with Arttemis and finish with Soul Sydonna with features the album’s sound mixer, Syd.

Honestly working on it was an unforgettable experience because we have been discussing making an original collaborative album for years. To be able to bring our ideas to life with the help of really talented artists has been a blessing and surreal. I am so proud of everyone involved and can’t wait until we come back together to create more artwork. 

Syd Wade from SoulSydonna & Arttemis

We want to thank all the artists for their hard work on this project and last but certainly not least we want to give a special shoutout to Syd who mixed and mastered the album to perfection. We are immensely grateful and can’t wait to make more magic happen.

The album, BK2BLK, is available on all platforms now!

Back cover.